The kind of values for which I was supposed to kill, such as democracy and national independence, were better served, I thought, through non-violent action.

I am indeed a moral realist.

I have been brought up in a culture where capital punishment is indeed anathema. I have always thought of myself as a principled opponent to capital punishment. However, when thinking about how the topic is handled in other cultures, in particular the American, Russian and Chinese ones, I have realised that my own tack on the issue was utterly superficial.

It is obvious that humanity faces existential threats of a global nature. They are global in the sense that is not possible to deal with them unless we resort to global governance.

I am indeed a hedonistic utilitarian. I have defended hedonistic utilitarianism for quite a while.

I want to think that there are better ways of obviating murder than to resort to capital punishment, but I realise that this may be wishful thinking on my part.

The kind of values for which I was supposed to kill, such as democracy and national independence, were better served, I thought, through non-violent action.